Winder’s fire chief blasted Barrow County’s E-911 center this week over what he said were unnecessary delays in dispatching emergency calls.

Winder Fire Chief Ray Mattison pointed to two recent incidents where he said dispatching help was delayed because E-911 operators took too much time taking a long list of data and typing it into a computer rather than getting help on the way.

“It’s all about training and being held accountable, and those two things have not happened there (at the 911 center,)” Mattison said.
The two incidents were the Easter morning fire at a Winder church on April 24 and a fatal motor vehicle accident on May 20. In both cases, Mattison said dispatchers delayed sending help because they took time to type unnecessary data into a computer first.

The recent incidents are just two examples in a long-standing problem at the E-911 center, he said.

He says they have no training but if thats the case why do they attend a telecommunicator school. Just shows how ignorant he is. I think there will be alot of happy people once hes out of the door. And the long list of data im sure is the information you hear the people on the radio asking for.

What does this man care? Ray does not even allow his Rescue truck respond to half of the calls they should respond to, seizures, chest pains, difficulty breathing etc. These are all serious calls and this man does not care to assist these citizens. On top of that he covinced the City to spend over $500,000 on a ladder truck that he does not allow automatically repond to structure fires! What kind of BS is this?

The Chief is the one person who brought the Winder Fire Dept to where it is now. He is a great man who cares about his fire fighters and his citizens. Yall dont know what you are spouting off about. If he is so bad, why does Winder have such a great insurance rating? He knows how a 911 Center should be operated and the one we have now is a joke. Keep it up Chief!

That's a complete load of crap. The Chief most certainly is NOT "the one person who brought the Winder Fire Dept to where it is now...". That honor belongs to the dedicated men and women work there that actually do the job, not the idiot at the top.

I understand his frustration. However, I will say the CAD system requires all of that useless information to be entered before it will allow the dispatcher to pull up the appropriate units to send. On the other hand, the 911 center is too scared to take initiative without the CAD because of policies and procedures and the risk of getting sued for the smallest screw up.

I recently had the need to call our couny 911 dispatch early in the morning. The dispatcher was very professional in the information requested and in getting a unit out to me as soon as possible. The paramedics responding did a wonderful job.

I think that combining the centers is in the best interests of all of the citizens in the county.

As for the internal politics that continues to plague this county, it saddens me that we have so many that really should be supportive of the various agencies instead of nipping at each other like stray dogs.

If he thinks he can do it better then let him go and try it and lets see how well he does. Keep up the good work 911, dont listen to that bitter old man. I support all public safety because there all underpaid and under appreciated.

Ok, above I see someone calling themselves "Idiot" who is trying to call the chief an idiot. (goes without comment needed)

I am a citizen; I have Personally Experienced DELAYS with the County 911 Dispatch Center. I think the Chief is trying to get Action with his comments to MAKE A POSITIVE CHANGE.

He works for the CITY and I doubt is "one of Dannys friend" (but who cares anyway?)

This CHIEF has done an OUTSTANDING JOB in his position, if not building at least moving forward and maintaining a superior department. Winder has one of the LOWEST ISO RATINGS in the STATE. What does that mean to City Residents?---It means Significantly LOWER INSURANCE COSTS to the residents and business owners. Winder has a twice or more lower ISO than in the county the last I checked, More in line with Gwinnett actually. THIS IS A BIG DEAL.

I as a voter, taxpayer and citizen of the city & county, I Have some reservations about merging the dispatch centers but this is the facts:
Winder CITY Fire is Already Dispatched from the E911 Center, Winder Police is Not, BUT City Residents ARE PAYING for the E911 Center thru TAXES charged to EVERY CITY Resident with a Landline or Cell phone (just as everyone in the county is) SO Why Pay for it but not use it.

That Funding should Provide for a City-County joint Operated E911 center. A Winder-Barrow E911 would ensure and prevent some of the problems, create some oversight too.

PROCEDURES and PRIORITIES are the issues, How they Conduct Business and THIS is what the Chief is trying to FIX. Winder Needs a Separate Set of Dispatch Desks within that same center as they are high volume anyway.

We can't allow certain systems or equipment to take over and prevent us from the REAL Purpose of E911, there has to be a way to do both without any delays, THIS will make someone start working on the problem and Alert the Public.

I will say the E911 Center has been professional and courteous when I have spoken with them but I would hope they will develop a better knowledge of our streets eventually, I should not have to give additional info to them on Main roads, they should be experts on the majority of streets at some point.

It is no secret that the COUNTY Govt has been in turmoil for several years. He has to stand up so the citizens in the city don’t suffer while trying to work with the county to make it ALL a better place.

Lastly, HE is RETIRING Soon, So this is an attempt to leave us in a good safe position, I RESPECT this, HE SEES a PROBLEM and is TRYING to FIX it before he leaves. He could just bid his time and ease out, but he still has his citizens’ best interests at heart.

I think we ALL need to take a moment to thank Ray Mattison for his service frankly. It is our loss, but hopefully his replacement will have learned much from him or follow wisely that path.

P.S. We needed the Fire Truck, it serves its purpose, it is not a first response unit. It helps us maintain our ISO also.

if he cared so much he would roll the winder trucks on all 911 calls, especially when the county med units are not in the city anymore. there is nothing worse then rolling into the city and having a diff breather going down the tubes and you and your partner have to call for rescue. does not make any sense knowing the can get on scene and do a good job til the medic gets there. if he care that much he would respond to all emergencies in the city limits, period.

I think you have lost it! The people of Winder would be crazy to vote that man as mayor. The city would be so micro-managed its not funny. He doesnt even let a "rescue" truck run on rescue calls. Come on now how crazy is that? How would you feel if you were having chest pains and you had to wait for the med unit to get there because he wouldnt let the rescue truck thats 2 blocks over respond. I dont think they should pick what it responds to. If its going to be called a rescue truck then it needs to go to all medical calls. If thats the case lets not send the engine to a house fire. It makes about the same ammount of sense

My point exactly- He does not allow that big shiny Ladder Truck Respond to Residential Structure Fires automatically. Check into this Mr Buffington. Every department in the Metro Area has a Ladder Truck respond on Residential Fires!

Barrow County purchased its first latter truck within the same year, shortly after the City updated its Truck with a new one. Prior to Truck 7, the City has had the ONLY ladder truck in Barrow County for decades and it Would Respond when called County-Wide. Winder used to run fire trucks all over the county years ago when Winder had resources the County didn't have. As Barrow has grown up, there are Tens of Thousands more residents, the county department was developed from the decades past being local volunteer only stations to now having its own full time department now with Six Stations and its own Ladder Truck (Truck 7). **It DOES NOT Respond to every call automatically EITHER. *Those are additional resources both departments utilize when the situations require. Remember that We have Large Buildings in the city downtown and Large Industrial Building both in the City & County and it those structures that would warrant the Ladder Trucks on a first response. At this time, due to short staffing, the County Ladder truck may be out of service most of the time, as I understand.

Winder has it's own fire district for a reason and I have great RESPECT for the Men and Women of BOTH DEPARTMENTS who put their lives on the line for ours and our property.

There SHOULD BE a AMBULANCE Stationed in Winder though, Which WOULD SERVE EVERY BARROW COUNTY CITIZEN BETTER, Winder is the center of the county (Barrow Co was created by request of the City of Winder over 97 years ago) But If any ONE Med Unit is on a call, the Winder/Central unit could GO ANY DIRECTION to back up ANY ZONE, which means if you live in an area needing 2 Med Units, You don’t wait for one from halfway across the county. Next: Winder is the largest population area, and has a larger amount of calls, but because they stationed the med units at county stations only (was one downtown Winder previously more than once) This County and City are both not properly being served due to politics over safety.

Note: The Winder Fire Dept is over 100 YEARS Old. It operates the city's two (2) fire stations. The department has a Class 3 ISO Rating.

Barrow County currently has an ISO rating of 5/9 (varied) with six stations.

WHO Has GIVEN YOU THE IDEA that Ladder Trucks Roll to every Residential Fire?

Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services provides fire protection and emergency medical services for a population of about 800,000 people with a force of 845, Responding to more than 62,000 calls for help annually, GCFS operates 30 strategically placed fire stations that include 30 engine companies, 10 ladder trucks, and 23 advanced life-support medical units.

**ONLY 10 Ladder Trucks in 436.7 Square miles, over 880,000 population now, the LARGEST FIRE DISTRICT in Georgia. (50th Largest County in size, 2nd in population)

Winder & Barrow share 162.8 Square miles, and about 75,000+/- population, (8th Smallest County in size, but Top 30 in population) and HAVE 2 Ladder Trucks.

They have 1 ladder truck per over 88,000+ residents, we have 2 ladder trucks for just under 80,000 residents Total. So by those numbers we have Twice as many Ladder Trucks available.

And they have probably 20X+ as many large structures as we do, which is typically the use for a ladder truck. (multi-story, massive buildings, malls, factories, hotels, etc..)

There are probably many Counties that do not even have a single ladder truck at all.

We need to have these in the event of a large structure, building or industrial fire and to maintain our ISO ratings having these structures in our city-county.(Which means our insurance is cheaper here for having them)

Also: The Engines at most Winder & Barrow County stations are ADVANCED LIFE SUPPORT units, so Based on resources, manpower, the E911 Center Dispatch, and the Expected response time of the Med Unit, The City Rescue Truck may not be dispatched, or another unit (ALS Engine or Med-Unit) maybe selected to respond instead.

Remember, this is not a City Vs County issue, or politics, it is attempt to correct a specific problem that has been identified by one of our Public Safety officials, To BENEFIT ALL CITIZENS. ---It seems to be an excuse for some to hate on that offical who has nothing personal to gain but YOUR Safety in mind.

Really? "The Engines at most Winder & Barrow County stations are ADVANCED LIFE SUPPORT units" I think NONE of the units in Winder are ALS, and the engines in Barrow are not ALS either, you might want to check on that again. The Winder units should respond to medical calls in their zone, that is not happening and it is a delay to have to ask them to respond to calls.If Mattison is so concerned about delays why isnt he looking at the whole picture instead of focusing on one aspect of it.

I will ask you this: You stated "The Winder units should respond to medical calls in their zone, that is not happening" --Tell me about this.

Please provide this data where WFD is not responding to calls.

The BARROW Fire Dept DOES NOT respond a fire truck or rescue truck to all EMS-Medical Calls. (I know with first hand experience)

So is there a different standard occuring?

Barrow EMS is SUPPOSED to Be SERVING ALL of BARROW County EQUALLY, But IT DOES NOT, So then why attack the services the City Provides? Why not ask WHY BARROW EMS fails to serve fairly a large portion on citizens?

Winder is not dispatched to most medical calls in their zone. The med unit has to REQUEST for them to be dispatched. Barrow engines are dispatched to calls such as chest pain, siezures, breathing difficulty, diabetic problems. Winder is not dispatched to the same medical calls, they have to be requested. You can check the dispatch protocols they are not the same. And I think Barrow serves all the citizens equally, just who are the large portion of citizens that you say are not served fairly? The guys in Winder do not mind responding to the calls when requested. They do a great job for the City, no one is attacking them. The point is that they should be DISPATCHED to the calls in their zone instead of having to request them, this would reduce response time. Isn't that the issue in the article?

"Barrow engines are dispatched to calls such as chest pain, siezures, breathing difficulty, diabetic problems. Winder is not dispatched to the same medical calls, they have to be requested."

This is NOT True, We called Barrow (in the county) and WAITED for a MED Unit, NO ENGINE was Sent.

Next, Why should we be sending FIRE ENGINES from EITHER department WHEN EMS is what we need and EMS SHOULD BE BETTER strategically places and managed, You NEED An Ambulance, That is what you need. I have TIMED EMS Responses and they are NOT Good and it is not the EMT's fault in most cases, It is a LACK of Resources, Lack of Total Units for a Population this size. AND the CITY is Under protected by EMS.

There are no Barrow County Fire Rescue ambulances in the city limits of Winder. Been that way for awhile now, not a big deal. The city is surrounded by them. Winder fire and Barrow fire have dispatch protocols, hence why all the questions when you call 911. If the medical emergency falls into certain areas you get a fire truck. The difference is Chief Maddison's protocols are not a tight as Barrows. Meaning he is not always dispatching his crews to life endangerment calls. Just to make this clear, this is not what his crews want, they would like to be dispatched. But this is his call. Now in the chiefs defense, a large portion of life endangerment calls are not that at all, but the problem arrises when it really is and when you need hands you need them now. So what really you have is a department rolling the dice, 9/10 times he is right, its the 1 that is the problem. As for dispatch, i agree with him its broken the latest attempt at fixing it is now dangerous for the crews, but this will make chief happy they dispatch faster, just the crews dont get told whats going on, ask a Barrow fire crew about this new practice and how if could have got a whole crew killed. So my point is this, Winder is not dispatched to some of medical calls in the city, but they dont have to be, Barrow med units have been serving the city for years by themselves on a lot of calls and will continue to do so. this is much ado about nothing new. Sorry to disappoint...

Maybe the City of Winder needs to get into the Ambulance/Med-Unit business, and those in the city need to have a portion of their County Taxes diverted to the City Government to help pay for it.

If we won't be fairly served by Barrow County.

I could have inital treatment and be transported to BRMC before most currently placed Barrow EMS units can make the One-Way Trip to the City from whichever direction out in the county they are dispatched from. The nearest is what 4 miles at best? Plus Traffic...

Note: Med-6 (and Engine 6) was located in downtown Winder until about --what 6-9 months ago? -when the new Station 6 was ready to open.

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